USTDA grant for the Romanian Ministry of Health

On September 6, 2012, CS Romania organized a signing ceremony for the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) grant awarded to the Romania Ministry of Health (MOH) for the deployment and implementation of health telecommunications and telemedicine solutions in the field of primary care in rural and isolated areas. The $422,786 grant will fund a feasibility study on possible improvements in primary and specialist health care delivery in rural Romania.

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Duane Butcher signed the grant on behalf of the U.S. government. Raed Arafat, Under Secretary of State signed on behalf of the Romanian Ministry of Health.

At the ceremony, officials underlined the benefits of the grant to Romanian health care system. “The grant agreement to be signed today between the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Romanian Ministry of Health is an example of the U.S. government’s commitment to working with Romania to further develop a key area of the country’s infrastructure -- public health,” stated U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Duane Butcher.

“Currently, Romania has a national telemedicine system connecting ambulances and medical data reception centers. At the same time, over 100 hospital emergency units are connected to the three medical data reception centers. The third such center to open after those in Targu Mures and Bucharest is being tested now in Iasi. The telemedicine system has developed very good in emergency medical assistance, Romania is becoming a model in this regard. But telemedicine is not employable just for emergency assistance; it can also be used in primary medical assistance and in other fields such as radiology. This year we succeeded in implementing a pilot project in the Danube Delta region which connects 10 family practitioners’ clinics with the Emergency County Hospital in Tulcea. An evaluation of this project and a study of the needs associated with implementing telemedicine in providing primary medical care in rural and isolated areas are needed. The U.S. Government support in conducting an expert analysis of the telemedicine system in Romania and of its needs is more than welcome. It will help us make some decisions on a strategy of development for the telemedicine system in our country based on well analyzed data,” said Raed Arafat, Under Secretary of State in the Romanian Ministry of Health.